Nightfall brought with it a much needed respite for the elves.

Thu’lain wiggled the toes on his left foot, testing the numbness that still lingered there.

Would bleeding increase the rate of poison dispersal? No, or else the arrow would have helped earlier. Maybe it did help, and I just didn’t notice? I wish I’d gotten one of those stingers.

“Looks like it’s starting to wear off there Thu Thu.” Raj’ken smiled, looking up from her weaving project.

“I was considering other options to speed the process.” Thu’lain shrugged and resorted to poking his leg in a few places, testing overall sensation. A sound drew his attention from outside and his head snapped up.

Raj’ken’s relaxed posture immediately stiffened and she kept gravely silent as she peeked between the woven branches of their shelter.

The night was incredibly dark and the moons of Niedhawk were at their darkest. Without any source of light Raj’ken struggled to make out details despite her night vision as she scanned the area.

What is it this time?

Raj’ken heard the sound again - wingbeats - she looked as high as she could manage without sticking her head out of the concealed shelter.

A large leathery creature hung down on the limbs above with black empty eyes that searched the ground below. Raj’ken silently turned and mouthed, “Ar’ghul.”

Thu’lain nodded and started using hand signals.

“Does it see us?”

She shook her head and peeked back out. The creature stretched its seventeen-foot wingspan and then uncoiled its tail from around the branch, dropping silently from its perch and gliding away into the darkness and out of sight.

Looks like it’s hunting.

She turned back and sat back against the shelter, letting out the breath she hadn’t noticed she held.

“It’s gone. No cause for alarm. Looks like it was just the one.” Raj’ken rolled the tension out of her shoulders.

Another close call. This is getting ridiculous.

“Looks like we aren’t going anywhere tonight,” Trat’catha mused around a small bite of salted meat. “We’re gonna have to wait for morning for them to get back to their nest. Even if I’d like to cover more ground.”

“Too risky,” Thu’lain agreed. Raj’ken nodded.

No way of knowing how many are out there.

“Besides, you can’t move yet anyways, Thu.” Anar’dea smiled as she played with not-Marcel’s bow, waving it and pulling it tight to test its flexibility and weight.

“Did the stallion have a nice weapon?” Tu’lar asked, doing his best to be quiet. He was weaving small pouches out of plant material and stuffing them with different powders from larger bags.

“It’s not bad. The draw strength is actually pretty good. I’m sure it could do a good deal of damage, though” - Anar’dea smiled and glanced at Thu’lain - “I think Thu would be a better judge.”

Tu’lar paused for a moment before he got the joke. Thu’lain couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s certainly good for penetration.”

He glanced up at Tu’lar, satisfied at the stunned expression on both his and Anar’dea’s faces, and settled back into massaging his leg. Trat’catha laughed quietly and added, “How many did he end up getting you with anyway?”

“Just the two.” Thu held up two fingers.

“I still think the stingers would have been worth the trip back.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning came without the red sun Hargrithe, leaving the land bathed in shades of grey once again.

“This is a long Neidhawk, isn’t it? Or is it just me?” Tin’lo complained. He’d been silent and on edge ever since they’d spotted the Ar’ghul.

“It’s just you, Tin. Try to relax! Enjoy the fresh air!” Tu’lar patted Tin’lo’s back and gave him a thumbs up.

Tin’lo smiled in spite of himself, “How are you even like this, again?”

“A healthy dose of adversity and a full belly! You can’t tell me that you don’t enjoy this freedom,” Tu’lar laughed.

“I don’t think I’d call this freedom. But the company isn’t bad, I suppose,” Tin’lo complained, though he was much more relaxed than he’d been.

“We’ve made good time so far, and I think we are well out of the centaur’s territory,” Trat’catha estimated as he took stock of the area, searching for differences in the land. “It looks like we are getting closer to the foothills. It’s getting rockier. We should make the pass by nightfall.” He frowned. “Last time I was through, the pass was pretty barren, so we will need to proceed on the ground when we get there.” He looked at Thu’lain and asked, “How’s your leg doing?”

“Good as new.” He patted his leg, satisfied that the sensation had returned.

“We can’t make the pass at nightfall. There's a Gaur pack that reside there. If we don’t make it in time, we will camp outside the pass,” Trat’catha announced while he checked on his equipment as they rested.

“Why’s it important we don’t pass through at night?” Raj’ken tilted her head in curiosity.

Trat’catha took a lecturing stance. “Well, it’s not exactly important, but the Gaur take any attack on them as a personal attack, even if we are, in fact, defending ourselves. They are quite capable hunters and have excellent night vision and can scent up to several miles away, so they’re likely to pursue us outside of their territory. Even at the cost of many lives. They are, however, nocturnal, so if we pass through during the day we would easily avoid them.”

“Ah, okay. So don’t go on a murder-spree,” she joked as she elbowed Anar’dea. “Hear that? Gotta keep it on the down low.” - Raj’ken leaned in and whispered - “But I won’t tell.”

Anar’dea laughed and gave Raj’ken a light jab.

“Let’s get a move on, then,” said Thu’lain.

The day was winding into evening and, while their journey was making great progress, the rockier terrain meant that their tree cover was becoming thinner as they traveled, which made scouting easier, but also made them easier to spot. Their journey was a quiet one with no signs of centaur, apex, or really anything. It was a much-needed reprieve from the repeated attacks.

Raj’ken, however, was on edge, and the others shared her nerves. The forest was too quiet, lacking even birdsong and she kept searching for danger. Survival was all about listening to your environment.

It’s screaming it now.

Raj’ken stayed close to the core of the group, trying to cover any blind spots with her companions. They unconsciously picked up the pace.

It just feels so wrong here.

She couldn’t help but notice that even the plants seemed to be more dull and drained of life; the trees they used to travel were just as thick, but the branches had fewer leaves. The rocky terrain explained some of the weakness of the growth, but not all.

The trees are scarred through the bark, down to the core.

She was seeing it everywhere now: marks like rings scattered over many trees, each with a singular hole in the center that bored into the heart of the tree. Some of the trees wept fresh sap.

What the hell does that?

“Hold,” Thu’lain ordered as he held up his hand. He’d taken the lead to scout and Trat’catha stopped beside him, where they both stared at something far ahead.

“I see something, but I want a second opinion,” Thu’lain was alert, but not yet alarmed.

“Tin’lo, come take a look,” Trat’catha suggested. They stepped aside and Tin’lo looked where they pointed. He focused like a bird of prey, seeking out the smallest details.

That’s how he spotted the apex back then.

“I don’t like it,” Tin’lo blurted out. “It’s not a natural structure. I’d say it’s probably the nest that Ar’ghul came from.” He was tense, “But it’s by far the largest nest I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s what I thought, too.” Thu’lain watched the structure like he expected it to attack.

The structure swelled between trees and rose from the earth as an amalgamation of branches, trunks, earth, rocks, and a strange grey substance that caked between everything like mortar. It was positioned 30 feet into the air and was three times as wide at the base.

“Guys, this whole forest is messed up. Do Ar’ghul eat into trees?” Anar’dea needed to know.

“They can, yeah. . .” Tin’lo considered for a moment longer, “but, spirits, they’d probably have to be starving. I guess that explains why we saw one last night so far out.” He looked back to the nest with fear in his eyes.

“We need to go. Now,” Trat’catha ordered, and no one wanted to stay and argue.

They made a wide berth around the massive mound, but Raj’ken could see the holes along the surface of the nest.

She felt like it was looking back at her.

No! Something very wrong in there, creepy creeps. Go see your homeland, it’ll be great! Ugh, I can handle the apex, sure. Uch’l’thein, why not? Centaur? Icing on the cake! But these things are giving me the creeps!

She shuddered as a chill ran down her spine and she felt no shame as she sped ahead of the others, leaving even Thu’lain behind her. In fact, she felt that she did them a favor as her nervousness seemed to spur them forward and the rest quickly caught up and kept pace, at nearly double the speed they were going.

Raj’ken was finally starting to get winded by the time evening was closing to night when they slowed and regrouped, taking the time to eat light and drink.

“The pass is up ahead, but it’s too late to go through. I thought we were closer,” Trat’catha huffed, taking deep frustrated breaths.

“So, we have to stop here, even with that thing back there?” Raj’ken asked.

“I mean, can’t we even go a bit further, find a place to hide in the pass? It would be better there than here.” Tin’lo had a tightness in his voice that Raj’ken couldn’t have ignored if she tried and since she was already on edge it was only serving to make her much more nervous. Tu’lar stood next to him and kept him grounded in both a metaphorical and literal sense.

“Tin’lo, why are you so nervous about the Ar’ghul? I mean, they freak me out, too, but what am I missing?” She didn’t want him to feel belittled, but she had to know. Luckily, Tin’lo didn’t seem to take it as an insult.

“They aren’t like us, not even like the centaur, the gaur, or even the apex. They just hunger and cluster together in swarms. They completely lack anything even remotely resembling a self-preservation instinct.” He took a deep breath, starting to calm down. “That's why we hunted them nearly to extinction, but since the fall they’ve repopulated, and apparently, the other races didn’t see them as a threat.” He shook his head, now equal parts irritated and nervous.

“I guess that makes sense...” Raj’ken sighed. “Thanks for telling me.”

“It’s alright, I forget that you were born near the end… You didn’t get much time for a formal education.” Tin’lo looked vaguely uncomfortable.

Awh, come on, I know I missed out on a lot, but I don’t need your pity.

“We are not going into the pass tonight. There’s no guarantee that we will find shelter, and any closer than this and the trees are going to start thinning too much to use as cover. I don’t like it either, but it’s the best option right now.” Trat’catha diplomatically handled the situation.

Raj’ken sighed, but understood. She started coaxing the branches together, whispering to the trees. Others were grabbing additional branches and foliage to add into the shelter, and within fifteen minutes they had a somewhat secluded area of the canopy that didn’t stand out that much, despite being an oddly dense area of the canopy.

They all finally laid back to rest after a long day of travel, hidden within the treetops. It was about an hour of peace and quiet.

Then they heard the beating of wings.